Are smart pills & brain zapping risky? Bioethicists weigh in

March 26, 2015 5:30 PM

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Boosting a person's smarts through drugs or electrical or magnetic stimulation of the brain is becoming an increasingly widespread practice. Now, bioethicists are weighing in, saying that while such cognitive enhancement is neither bad nor good, it deserves more research.

In the past, "there have been many arguments that suggest one should take an ethical stance for or against cognitive enhancement" of healthy individuals, said Amy Gutmann, chairwoman of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, which released the second part of a report today (...